RESTAURANT WORKERS AND THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 68, 14 December 1920, Page 5

RESTAURANT WORKERS AND THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY

EMPLOYERS DESIKE AN AMENDMENT. . Iti tlic Arbitration Court yesterday, Mr. W. A. Grenfell made application. on the employers' behalf for nil amendment of the Wellington luncheon room, tea room, . and restaurant workers' award. Mr. 13. Kennedy opposed the application on behalf of the workers'. Mr. Grenfell said that the award, which was recently made, contained a provision reducing the hours of work to 18 per and imposed the condition that each day's work should not excced- eight hours. It nlso provided for a half-holiday being' given during one working day of each week. In. many of the establishments covered by the awanl, the premise? were closed on Sundays and therefore the employers were restricted to six eight-hour days, one of which had 'to be observed as a halfholiday. Thus they were unable to take advantage of the 48 hours provided by the award nnd were restricted to 14. If tho Court could see its. way to strike out the .words "eight hours in each day" it would allow the statute to operate that fixed a limit of ten hours for any day. 'Mr. IConnedy said thnt there might be Eomothing in the argument thnt the ems plo.vers were suffering hardship if Hie eight hours a day had to be worked between specified hours. Hut tho fact was tluit tho eight hours could be worked within a space of 14 hours in each day. The firms responsible for the present application to the Court were some halfdozen out of a total of 70.. This was an attempt to make the award fit a fow businesses instead of making the businesses lit the award. It wns possible, where an early start wns made, lo have the employees work tlje full eight hours and have their half-holiday on the same (lay. Mr. OTenfell said that there wero only half-a-dozen applicants because lie hail selected typical cases instead of obtaining tho signatures of all the parlies that would be affected. The Court reserved its dw.ision.